


Strong Enough

by KenmaNyan (NarryEm)



Series: DRAMAtical Murder Alternate Endings/Scenes by EmilyY [4]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Shounen-ai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2014-12-03
Packaged: 2018-02-26 05:04:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2639063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryEm/pseuds/KenmaNyan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Noiz won’t listen to Aoba. All of Aoba’s reasons and pleadings will never reach Noiz’s broken, shut-down mind and Aoba is desperate to free Noiz from the shackles. There is only one way left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strong Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this [fan art](http://keepcalmkeepdrawing.tumblr.com/post/101774689584/ill-accept-you-so-come-back-it-was-ages)

 

 

“It’s not over yet,” Aoba says softly. Noiz doesn’t move again. It’s as though he can’t even hear what Aoba is saying.

 _What about him?_ The words float to Aoba’s mind again.

“You don’t decide that,” Aoba tries to explain.

_Why not?_

“Think about it,” Aoba coaxes. Something is wrong. Noiz’s eyes are on him, but they don’t seem to be _seeing_ anything. They are so empty, devoid of anything. Cold. Alone. A few moments later, those empty green eyes shut again.

Aoba swallows the sudden lump in his throat. What if Noiz isn’t strong enough by himself? What if he’s been broken by other people’s cruelty, their indifference, and indifference towards himself one to many times? What if Noiz doesn’t have the willpower to get himself out of this mess anymore?

The thought sends an icy, prickling sensation down the back of Aoba’s neck and then down his spine. No. He won’t let it happen. He _can’t_ let Noiz stay in this awful place where he feels unloved and alone.

And there is one way he can think doing.

Aoba scoots down so he is sat where Noiz’s feet are bound by the shackles. They look heavy and oppressive and parts of it are digging into the fabric of his trousers. Tentatively, Aoba reaches out with both hands and touches one of the shackles. Just like before when Aoba had to wade through the masked figures, his hand twists and cracks, and a peculiar sensation runs up from his fingertips. Aoba bites lower lips and endures the sensation that is slowly turning into pain. He turns away into the darkness, hoping to find the locks that keep Noiz chained down to this darkness. But he can’t. No matter where he looks, there is nothing but absolute blackness. In fact, the heaps of chains seem to grow larger the long Aoba searches for the locks.

“Damn it!” Aoba yells out. He glances up at Noiz’s face but Noiz’s face is tranquil, unchanged. It is almost as though he is sleeping.

There is no time to consider other options now. Aoba grabs at the chains connected to the shackles at Noiz’s ankle and pulls on it harshly. His fingers burn with pain but he doesn’t care. He just wants Noiz back.

“Noiz, I’ll accept you,” he says out loud, voice hoarse from the pain and his own sadness. “I’ll accept every part of you, even the parts of you that you don’t like. So please . . . come back . . . for me.” Tears flow down his cheeks and blur his vision. He wipes them away with anguish and continue to tug at the chains. By some miracle, they break apart, shattering into pieces that fall away into nothingness.

Empowered by the small success, Aoba moves onto the other ankle. It could just be his imagination this time, however, the chains break more easily. Granted, they still caused him the same amount of pain but that doesn’t matter. All he wants right now is for Noiz to be free from the burdens of his past.

He goes on like that for what feels like ages. All the while, Noiz stays unmoving, never reacting to the commotion, not once. The sight of that makes Aoba’s heart clench with an unnameable emotion and when Aoba is finally down to one shackle around Noiz’s neck, he lets himself have a moment to catch his breath. There’s no signs of bruises or cuts where Noiz has been bound, which is a relief. Aoba allows himself one cursory look down at his hands and well, that was a shit idea.

His hands are badly torn up, some parts even looking burnt. With the adrenaline or whatever, he hasn’t felt the individual wounds when they were inflicted. They don’t look disfigured now but he knows that they will be looking distorted. He grits his teeth against the pain.

Aoba hoists Noiz up with one arm, almost cradling him. With the other, he wraps his fingers around the chain and pulls on it with all his might. It breaks, shattering and then dissipating into nothingness. Aoba pulls Noiz up into a proper embrace, cradling Noiz’s head by his neck.

“Noiz,” he whispers, tears welling up again. “Please don’t let this be for nothing. I . . . I don’t want to live in a world without you. I do accept you and I want you back.”

Silence falls around them heavily. Aoba waits for something to happen, anything.

He doesn’t know how long he has been waiting. Minutes, hours, who knows? Suddenly, Noiz stirs in his arms and struggles to sit up straight. His movements are slow, sluggish. This time, Aoba is the one to hold Noiz’s face in his hands, gingerly touching him to let him know that Aoba is here to stay.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore,” Aoba informs him. “I need you back, Noiz. Come back with me.”

Aoba doesn’t really give Noiz a chance to reply. He simply presses his lips to Noiz. He’s learnt that Noiz responds best to direct communication and this, this is his true feelings towards Noiz, as complicated and strange they may be.

Noiz pulls away, a stunned look on his face. His face has regained its normal colouring, and for the first time, Aoba sees the hint of a genuine emotion reflected in Noiz’s pale green eyes.

“Aoba . . . .”

Aoba doesn’t know what Noiz meant to say because the darkness around them shatters. The world that Noiz has trapped himself in is now gone. Forever. Aoba knows that he will know what Noiz wants to say to him. Not right now, or maybe not for a long time either. What matters, though, is that they understand each other.

 


End file.
